Over $800,000 in funding granted to District's Economic Development & Corporate Training Division will provide free job training to over 200 local residents.
On Friday October 2nd, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD) will receive $869,651 as one of 34 recipients of $27 million in grants aimed at jump-starting the California Clean Energy Workforce Training Program (CEWTP). The CEWTP is the largest state-sponsored green jobs training program in the nation and this first phase of the program is anticipated to train 5,600 participants for a variety of hands-on "green collar" jobs-including 200 San Bernardino County residents.
"At a time when education and training opportunities are desperately needed to stimulate the regional economy, SBCCD is proud to serve the residents throughout San Bernardino County with this training grant," said grant author Kevin Fleming of San Bernardino Community College District's Center of Excellence. "At least 200 residents within San Bernardino County will benefit from this training program over the next 2 years. The goal is to prepare them for 'green collar' jobs close to home."
A variety of statistical factors point out the need for training as 25% of San Bernardino County residents live below the poverty line, the unemployment rate is 13.9%, the construction industry has declined 18.6%, only 15.9% of the population has a Bachelor's degree or higher, foreclosures are up 397.8%, and over 136,198 old homes in the county require weatherization and retrofit services. In addition, the demand for a green workforce is high with over 1,330 identified Inland Empire firms currently, or potentially, employing energy efficiency workers locally.
The newly-funded grant project will recruit, train, and place 200 residents into green building apprenticeships or employment, by providing 400 hours of customized training in environmental literacy, green building, energy fundamentals, retrofits and energy efficiency, water efficiency, solar installation and design, basic skills, and workplace readiness. The SBCCD Center of Excellence research indicates these key occupations have a 3-year projected growth totaling over 1,470 additional jobs within the region.
This training program will prepare San Bernardino County residents for four career pathways/ occupations:
1) Building Performance/Retrofitting Specialists
2) Energy Auditors or Home Energy Raters
3) Resource Conservation or Energy Efficiency Managers
4) Solar PV/Thermal Installers.
A strong network of partners is collaborating in this proposal focusing on the green building industry. San Bernardino County, the county Regional Occupational Program, and Uncommon Good will provide outreach, recruitment, and assessment. Chaffey College and San Bernardino Community College District will provide curriculum and training. The Inland Empire chapter of the United States Green Building Council, representing 236 local companies in the green building and energy efficiency industry, will provide training, internships, apprenticeships, and employment opportunities.
"California's goals in renewable energy development, climate change reduction, clean transportation and green building are driving green job growth - and these funds are pivotal to building a workforce to meet that demand," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "This program represents the kind of innovative thinking needed to steer our economy toward a greener future while targeting the unemployed, underemployed and new workforce members at a time when we must do everything possible to help Californians return to work."
Coupled with a dollar-for-dollar match leveraged from public-private partnerships, the CEWTP promotes the use of industry sector strategies for training workers in occupations related to energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable energy (distributed generation and utility-scale), and alternative and renewable transportation technologies.
This collaborative effort combines funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the State Energy Program, Workforce Investment Act Governor's Discretionary 15 percent portion of the federal Workforce Investment Act, Assembly Bill 118 Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program plus public-private partnership matching funds.
The San Bernardino Community College District is composed of San Bernardino Valley College, Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, KVCR-TV/FM and the Economic Development & Corporate Training Division.